


Birthday Pancakes

by remreader



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Birthday, Fluff and Humor, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark at MIT, MIT Era, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29045115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remreader/pseuds/remreader
Summary: Rhodey's first birthday at MIT, ft. a special treat from his chaotic roommate Tony.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22
Collections: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020





	Birthday Pancakes

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up several months late with some Rhodey birthday fic*
> 
> written for my IronHusbands Bingo square N3 - free square

James Rhodes woke up on the morning of his sixteenth birthday to the faint but distinct smell of something burning. Messing around with flammable materials was definitely against residence hall rules but it wasn’t exactly an unusual occurrence in the dorm room that he shared with Tony Stark – on move-in day Rhodey had watched his new roommate completely dismantle their fire alarm and start fiddling with its component parts before he’d even put sheets on his bed. Errant sparks and other mishaps happened often enough that by this point Rhodey had a standard procedure for these situations.

First, check that Tony hadn’t accidentally set the laundry pile on fire. (“That was _one_ time.” Tony would protest whenever Rhodey brought that particular incident up. “You turned my favorite t-shirt into a _crop top_ , Tony!” Several other items had been completely incinerated, but the shirt! That rankled. “And you kept it, so I think it’s clear we both agree-” “We definitely don’t.” “-that that was actually an _improvement_ …” And so it went.) Second, assuming all was well and neither roommate nor room was on fire, roll over and go back to sleep. Tony was pretty much in a perpetual state of tinkering with _something_ and while it was almost always something intriguing, Rhodey had learned over the past few months to get his sleep in when he could, mad scientist roommate shenanigans notwithstanding.

This morning, however, was different. When Rhodey finally cracked open a wary eye to make sure his belongings weren’t in imminent danger of being engulfed in flames he was surprised to find Tony standing next to his bed and sporting an eager gap-toothed grin as he held out a plate laden with an enormous stack of pancakes. The burning smell, it turned out, came from the flickering lights of what had to be the absolute maximum number of birthday candles that one could physically fit into the surface area of a pancake. “What the-?”

“Happy birthday!” Tony excitedly whisper-shouted, then immediately launched into an explanation before Rhodey had a chance to react. “I wanted to get you a birthday cake but the dining hall didn’t have any cake this early - not even cupcakes, it was ridiculous - and so I figured pancakes are _kind of_ cake, I mean it’s right there in the name! Anyway, they’re banana-walnut. Blueberry is way better, of course, or chocolate chip, but it’s your day, we can cater to your weird taste buds…” At this point the babbling briefly paused as Tony faced the unavoidable inconvenience of actually having to breathe, and Rhodey took the opportunity to wriggle himself up into a sitting position and blow out his candles before the rapidly melting wax formed a solid layer atop the pancakes.

“How’d you know it’s my birthday?” Rhodey asked, more than a little puzzled, as he accepted the plate from Tony and gestured for him to sit down on the bed too so they could share the celebratory breakfast. He hadn’t exactly _hid_ that fact or anything but, well... this was his first birthday since starting college and he didn’t have enough of a sense of things yet - would it be considered childish (a not insignificant concern, since he was the youngest student here besides Tony) to make a big deal out of it? He definitely hadn't expected anything like this. “And thanks!” he quickly added, causing Tony to beam at him again. “These look delicious. But seriously, how'd you know?”

“Pssh,” Tony tutted, with a dismissive wave of his fork. “I broke into the Pentagon’s servers when I was _twelve_.” (Tony was only fourteen now, so that was barely two years ago, but he said it with the dramatic air of one recalling a far-off childhood exploit.) “Hacking into the Registrar’s Office for your file was, in an ironic twist, child’s play.”

Rhodey snorted. “Well _that’s_ not alarming at all.”

“Don’t worry, I only use my powers for good.”

“Uh-huh. You know,” Rhodey decided to point out between mouthfuls of banana-walnut goodness – definitely the best variety of pancake, whatever Tony said to the contrary – “there’s a much easier way you could’ve figured this out.”

Tony gasped. “Don’t tell me you’ve already got an FBI file!”

“What?!” Rhodey nearly choked on his pancake. “No, dummy, you could’ve asked me!”

“Oh.” Tony frowned, like the thought had genuinely never occurred to him. (Not for the first time, Rhodey was left wondering what exactly went on inside his friend's head.) After a moment's consideration he shrugged. “More of a surprise this way.”

Rhodey laughed. “It definitely was that." He gave Tony a playful nudge with his shoulder. "And hey, you didn’t set any of my clothes on fire - it’s a birthday miracle!”

“That was _one time_!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this snippet of MIT era fun :)


End file.
